Puyallup lawmaker plans to file bill to work around prosecutors like Mark Lindquist

A state senator seeking to lead Pierce County as its next executive wants to intervene in one of the biggest legal issues facing the county right now: Prosecutor Mark Lindquist.

Sen. Bruce Dammeier, R-Puyallup, said he is preparing legislation that would allow county governments to seek help from the state attorney general when the county prosecutor is accused of wrongdoing or of having a conflict of interest.

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Under Dammeier’s proposal, County Council members could ask the state attorney general’s office to weigh in on whether an outside attorney is warranted in such cases.

If the attorney general says yes, the County Council could either hire an independent attorney or contract with the attorney general’s office for representation.

“In the exceptional circumstance where there’s a question about a prosecutor, the county needs an option to go forward around the current statute, which requires that the prosecutor be in charge of everything,” Dammeier said Monday.

Dan Hamilton, a deputy prosecutor in Lindquist’s office, wrote in an email that Lindquist already approved two outside attorneys to serve as special deputy prosecutors on the phone records case “to address even the appearance” of a conflict of interest.

Under current state law, the County Council has no ability to override or replace the attorneys Lindquist appointed to represent the county in the case, said Susan Long, the council’s attorney.

“Ultimately, the decision rests with the prosecutor,” Long said.

By going to court, McCarthy is seeking the court’s intervention to appoint outside attorneys of her own choosing, independent of the prosecutor’s office.

Dammeier, who is running for Pierce County executive in 2016, said the legislation wouldn’t affect him if he is elected next year, because it would place the authority to seek an outside attorney with County Council members, not the county executive.

Dammeier faces two County Council members next year in his bid for the county’s top elected position: Councilman Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, and Councilman Rick Talbert, D-Tacoma.

Roach has publicly questioned whether the county needs to employ additional outside attorneys in the Lindquist matter. On Monday, he said he is satisfied with the two attorneys Lindquist recently approved to represent the county and thinks they will act independently in the case.